2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was the 61st season of professional stock car racing in the United States. The season included 36 races and two exhibition races with the regular season beginning with theDaytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The final ten races were known as 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Teams and drivers Complete schedule Because of the merger of Hart Racing with Flip Canassi, the No. 01 and No. 15 teams closed after the 2008 season. However, the owners' points from the No. 15 were transferred to the No. 34, while points from either the No. 01 or No. 41 was transferred to the No. 07, with the No. 33 car, owned by Richard Childress, receiving the other. (NASCAR allows for a transfer if the original owner maintains some stake in the team to which points are transferred.) 2009 also saw the demise of Petty Enterprises, which merged with Gillette Evernham Motorsports. The new company would be called Richard Petty Motorsports, forming a 4 car team with Kasey Kahne in the No. 9, Elliott Sadler in the No. 19, Reed Sorenson driving the famed No. 43, and AJ Allmendinger driving the No. 44. Also Bill Davis Racing was bought by Triad Racing, however the No. 22 was bought by Penske Racing with Bill Davis holding minority interest. The No. 22's points were transferred to the No. 77, thus guaranteeing that car a spot in the Daytona 500 should all other transfers occur. Limited schedule Schedule The biggest changes for 2009 in a NASCAR schedule realignment added the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway to the 2009 Chase, the shifting of the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway to a later autumn date, and the placement of the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to Labor Day weekend as a night race. Additionally, there was a fourth bye week between the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway and the Pep Boys 500. The schedule changes are listed in boldface on the chart below. The total distance of the season will be 14461.9|mi|km. Key to symbols: 1 – All races were broadcast on Sirius XM Radio. * – Television times are listed. Fox started (except for Daytona 500 and Aaron's 499) with a 30-minute pre-race show, TNT had a 90-minute pre-race show and ESPN/ABC had a one-hour pre-race show. Add an extra fifteen minutes following the pre-race show for the scheduled green flag of the race. ♣ – This race was run at night or began in the day and finished that evening. ¶ – Non-points race. ♥ – This is a pair of races that will set the field for the Daytona 500. † – This race was produced and distributed by IMS Radio and the broadcast will be produced in conjunction with Performance Racing Network. § – This race was scheduled to have been run on Sunday, but was rescheduled to the following Monday due to rain.